Encouraging Fellowship/ Daily Devotional So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. (1 Thessalonians 2:8 ESV) One of issue that believers continually face is the idea that we are don’t need other people. Many have even gone so far as to say that they don’t need to go to worship to be a Christian. I have heard the arguments and even read the articles that take God’s word out of context to prove this point. Yes, it is true that the church is the people and not a building, but throughout God’s word there has been a frequent assembling together of God’s people. And the church was established by Jesus .In fact, even before the institution of the church there was and assembling of God’s people. Jesus himself made it part of His life. “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read (Luke 4:16 ESV).” There are however, many reasons why people feel that they don’t need others or the assembly. The most common reasons are rejection, taking offense, doctrinal disputes, bitterness, unforgiveness, pride, criticism, shame and fear of judgment. If this is true for you and there is something that has separated you from other believers or the church (assembly) would you ask God to help you go back to the root cause of that separation and allow Him to deal with it? We must know that if the devil gets a foothold in one of these areas that it is not just our fellowship with other believers that is being hindered, but your fellowship with God. (Matthew 6:14-15) For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. (1 Thessalonians) addresses how being connected with other committed Christians strengthens our faith. We all need our faith to be strengthened. It is one of the devil’s tactics to try to isolate us from other Christians. He does this to weaken our faith. Since the “shield of faith” is the armor that extinguishes all of the enemy’s fiery darts (Ephesians 6:16), it makes sense that the devil seeks to cut off the sources that would strengthen that shield (our faith). It is not just the devil that is on the prowl out to devour us, but it is our flesh (fallen nature) that often causes us to retreat from fellowship with other believers; mostly due to past emotional wounds. So we must come together as believers to worship. We need the assembling and the worship. Absolutely, we worship as unto God and for His glory, but as we come together in worship it is our faith that is strengthened. Worship involves prayer, praise, petition, fellowship, adoration, repentance, intercession, and the list could go on. Each one of these necessities of worship is vital for the life of the believer. So we do need each other. We need fellow Christians to encourage us to be faithful to the Lord and to hold us up when we can’t stand on our own. We need other believers to build us up when we have been torn down and to help protect us when we’re being attacked. Since we as believers are called to a living and active faith; a faith that produces love and good works; we need the support of our Christian family to do what God is calling us to do. We assemble together frequently to encourage one another to love and good works. Faith is a continual possession, profession, and action, and not only a one-time event so we must meet together. It is true that to be saved you don’t have to assemble with other believers, but to be the church God has called us to be then we must. We need each other all the more that the day of Jesus’ return is drawing near. “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Posted on: Mon, 07 Oct 2013 13:47:06 +0000
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